With the second New Year in under a month crossing Eastern Standard time, I hope everyone out there has a good Year of the Dragon. And also, you may enjoy what appears to be the Chinese version of Taken, starring character actor extraordinaire (and somewhat Neeson-esque) Anthony Wong.
Normally I wouldn’t be too into posting other people’s lists but this one just seemed like too much fun to ignore. Prefect for a Friday. What I also like about the list is that they didn’t seem to just go for the obvious; it looks like the folks over at Zen College Life really were combing ever nook and cranny of film to think of a couple of these. Plus whether or not these are “the best” or not doesn’t really matter. It’s just a lot of fun.
Now personally, I’d have added Joe Hallenbeck’s “touch me again and I’ll kill you” punch from The Last Boy Scout, but all in all I’d say this is a pretty good list. What are some you can think of if you made your own list like this?
Check ‘em all out under the seat.
No other way to say it, this is friggin sweet. Graphic designer Frederic Brodbeck has developed a visual system that breaks down any film into color and motion to give every film its own unique signature. Brodbeck analyzes the editing structure, color, speech and motion of movies, then transforms them into graphic representations that can be compared side by side.
Each movie is processed frame by frame, then broken down into ten shots “chapters.” Each chapter is then broken down into a color scheme and movement for how much motion is happening on the screen at that given time.
Most films’ in the examples on Bordbeck’s web site are all dark and look very similar. But then contrast them to Wes Anderson’s film’s “fingerprints;” they are much more vivid… and brown. It’s fascinating but not all that surprising when you see each film’s breakdown. Each one I look at I think, “Well yeah, that makes sense!” (look at Top Gun above). In the video below, look at the difference in motion between Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Cameron’s Aliens. It’s obvious, but fascinating to basically be able to see both films in their entirety, side by side.
cinemetrics from fb on Vimeo.
The dude sells posters and other media of any movie you want made up (or some that are already done). I SOOO want The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (pictured above) hanging in my theater.
Everything about this should not be funny. But it is. There’s an Oscars promo video out there too that tries to capitalize on the return of Billy Crystal as the Oscar host, but that just doesn’t do it for me. This one on the other hand works partly because of the cast involved and to be honest, if you’re a fan of Crystal’s particular brand of humor, he seems to still have it going on. Enjoy the trailer for When Harry Met Sally II. Mazel tov!
Can’t believe I missed this yesterday. Well, late is better than never. Cheers Nic, here’s looking forward to another 30 years of glorious cinema from you sir.
Happy new year everyone! Yes, you too!
Merry Christmas RowThree readers! Just a quick note here between gift opening, stomach stuffing and nap taking. If you’re like many of us stuck in an apartment or a house without a chimney, Christmas just doesn’t feel like Christmas without a roaring fireplace to warm the bones while drinking hot cider or cuddling next to the one you love. Luckily, Netflix can help you out with that one.
There are two version that Netflix has on Instant Watch. Each depict an invitingly warm, crackling fireplace. The one entitled episode 1 plays just that: a crispy fireplace that turns your TV into a fireplace. Episode 2 (“Crackling Yule Log Fireplace”) is the same thing along with comforting, Christmas instrumentals to enhance your holiday mood.
There. Don’t say we never gave you anything. Enjoy your holiday. Love, RowThree.
As if we needed more social media. Even in the movie realm. We already have Get Glue, iTrackmine, IMDb and a whole slew of other apps and sites that let us compile our collections, keep track of lending and brag (or feel inferior) to your friends about all of your awesome titles. Well this maybe more of the same, but it’s Criterion, it’s movie related (generally awesome movies) and looks really nice.
So I got the notice in my inbox this morning that Criterion.com has launched “My Criterion.” Nothing really special or different from other movie sharing sites; but again, it’s Criterion. So since it makes sense to separate these titles from other DVDs on your shelf, I suppose it makes some sense to differentiate this virtual sect of your DVDs (and Blu-rays) as well.
You can make lists of films you own, make notes on them and with the Holiday season upon us, I believe I’ll find the “wish list” section particularly useful (or hopefully family members will find my profile useful 
). If you’ve already got a Criterion profile, you can get started by simply adding any title to your “own it” list or your “wish” list. I’ve already gotten a start. Come on over, take a look at my wish list and then send whatever DVD is on that list to the RowThree studios at your convenience. I’ll love you forever for it.
You know what I hate? Probably the same thing you do: scabies. Oh, and also people who turn on their bright cell phone a few seats in front of you during a movie. Outside of audible talking it’s the single most distracting thing that happens to me in theaters. Now, while I haven’t discovered an app that will simply make these people disappear (yet), I found something that I do find useful so that at least I can still be considerate to those around me during a film screening.
First off, I DO NOT condone texting, emailing, Twittering or really any use of a cell phone during a public film screening. Except one. I like to check the time. Since I have a phone, I rarely wear a watch anymore these days. But in the theater, it’s a little annoying when that screen lights up (even for just a second) to check the time. I’ve always been very discreet about it in the past (though not everyone is) and have never had any complaints. Checking under the armpit or in my coat; which to be honest is still pretty annoying. Well that’s fixed!
I found a free app called “Screen Filter” (in the Android Market) that has solved that problem. It will set your screen brightness down to any percentage you wish – all the way down to pretty much black if you want it to. These settings are far dimmer/darker than your phone’s stock brightness adjuster. You can make several presets and have them show up right on your home screen if you wish. So with the tap of a finger your phone will go to super bright to super dark and stay there until you tap it back to your normal setting.
I’ve found it not only useful for super dark settings like the movie theater, but also I like to read downloaded material at night. Setting the screen to 15% brightness is easy on the eyes. And lastly, it really saves on your battery. Which if you’re an Android user and have one of the newer high end phones, you know saving every last drop of energy from your phone can be a struggle.
Don’t fear friends of Apple (cult members), I found an app similar in the iTunes app store as well. It’s called simply, Dimmer and appears to do the exact same thing. But since I don’t use such a device, I can’t test it to be sure – though it has good ratings. Either way, this has been a really smooth and useful item for me to keep going to public film screenings and take my tech with me. But again, please see the first sentence in paragraph two above!
Probably this should wait until our usual “Monday Sucks Less” post, but dammit it’s Friday and it’s been a while (like a whole week!) since I’ve posted a Star Wars related item simply because it’s Star Wars.
On top of that, I really really hate clips of movies on YouTube with a lame clip of rock music simply pasted over the top. I hate it when I’m trying to find a particular scene or quote, finally find it, only to realize that someone has added Nickelback over the top of it. Ya know, to add “impact” to the scene. But this seems to be an inexplicably rare case.
I love Star Wars and I like AC/DC. The two should never meet… except that when they do, it all comes together pretty well. This isn’t particularly clever or difficult but damn if it isn’t edited nicely and for some reason it got me smiling and almost chuckling with charm this morning. Good stuff (found on G+ btw
This was up on the front page of Vimeo.com today when I logged in. For its simplicity, creativity and completeness (the shifting graphics incorporate elements from all of the Tintin books. If Spielberg’s mo-cap animated film ever spins off a TV series, they would have a wonderful opening title sequence ready made!
